The Fever Shared the Rock Like It Was Pizza at a Sleepover

The Indiana Fever didn’t just survive without Caitlin Clark — they evolved.

They played with pace. They moved the ball. They shared the rock like it was a pizza at a sleepover — everybody got a slice, and nobody hogged the cheese. This wasn’t just an 85–76 win over the Washington Mystics. This felt like a reveal.

No Caitlin Clark. No Sophie Cunningham. No problem.

Seriously — could this game have been more than just a Tuesday night dub? Was this a fork in the road?

Because the Fever didn’t just look fine without their stars. They looked connected. They looked free. And most importantly? They looked like they knew what they were doing.

 

“That’s how we want to play,” head coach Stephanie White said. “That’s how we have to play in order for us to be successful.”

And yeah — it looked like it.

The offense flowed like a group chat with no dry texters. Players were cutting, relocating, making the extra pass. They dropped 31 points in the third quarter alone — after scoring just 38 in the entire first half. It wasn’t just strategy. It was vibe alignment.

This wasn’t “let’s try to survive until Caitlin’s quad heals.” This was: What if we’re built for more than one storyline?

Because on this night, they didn’t just find buckets.

They might’ve found themselves.

aAri McDonald Took the Keys & Drove Like She Stole It

Let’s be honest.

For fans who hadn’t seen Aari McDonald play before, this might’ve felt like a surprise. However, the way McDonald seamlessly fit alongside a completely new team, how natural she looked in a Fever jersey is exactly who she is. A baller. But McDonald didn’t just blend in. She stepped in like the new Aunt Viv on The Fresh Prince — smooth, confident, and ready to rewrite the role.

McDonald has bounced around more than a ping pong ball in a frat house. Indiana is her third team in five seasons since entering the league in 2021.

But there’s a reason she keeps getting jobs in this league. 

And on Tuesday night? She showed up like someone who wanted the job — and then went out and took it.

 

“Aari was terrific… she got us settled… she set the tone on the defensive end and that was big time for us,” said White.

“It’s not hard when you want the job. She was watching film on the way here. That’s a point guard mindset.”

McDonald didn’t need 20 points to make her presence felt.

Her fingerprints were everywhere in Indiana’s 31-point third quarter — their best frame of the season. She organized, attacked, defended. Her three-pointer with 2:29 left in the third was the team’s fifth of the quarter and capped a soul-snatching momentum swing.

Not bad for a point guard still unpacking her bags.

Lexie & Kelsey Went Off

Lexie Hull’s first half was basically airplane mode.

Her second half? All Wi-Fi.

All 14 of Hull’s points came after halftime, like she cracked a can of Gatorade and remembered she’s built different.

Hull hit big shots, forced turnovers, dove on loose balls like they were dropped iPhones — and once again straight-up outworked everyone in the building.

The signature moment? She won a jump ball like it was a bar tab dispute and set up Kelsey Mitchell’s three-point play that blew the game open again.

 

“Our team just plays really well together,” Hull said. “A lot of our points were off assists… it was fun…Moving the ball, finding the open person, making shots — more than anything, it starts with the defensive side. Our team looks really good. It’s hard to guard.”

Translation: Indiana was hoopin’ and Lexie Hull was the spark plug and the clutch gene.

Then came Kelsey Mitchell — midrange surgeon, three-point assassin, momentum hitwoman.

With 1:28 left and the game teetering on “uh oh,” Mitchell slipped baseline, dropped in a slick reverse layup and drew the foul. Crowd? Lost it. It was the dagger. The exclamation point.

The “we outside” moment.

Mitchell led all scorers with 24 points on 4-of-7 from three. When the Fever needed a bucket, she pulled up like DoorDash.

“Our ability to drive and get angles… and either score or get these 3’s,” she said. “The more we touch the paint and play inside-out through AB, the more it’ll open up for us.”

Speaking of AB — quiet but efficient.

Aliyah Boston clocked in with 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 night, doing all the right things without asking for applause. But Stephanie White was still pushing for more. More volume. More involvement. More “feed her like it’s Thanksgiving.”

“We gotta get AB more touches… we’ve gotta be on time and on target with our passes to her.”

This version of Indiana? They don’t just have one identity.

They’ve got pieces. They’ve got toughness. And if Lexie Hull keeps flipping the switch at halftime like that, they might have a chaos engine too.

Washington Brought Effort, But Left with Regret

On the other end of the floor, the Mystics weren’t just disappointed — they looked like a group that brought Monopoly to a poker night.

Outclassed. Outshot. Out of answers.

Rookie forward Kiki Iriafen did everything but drive the team bus. She showed up, clocked in, and ran through defenders like she had the A’ja Wilson cheat code unlocked. Iriafen — one of the front-runners for Rookie of the Year — dropped a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting. That’s “I cook with gas and butter” efficiency.

But her face afterward told the whole story. No smiles. No celebration. Just a woman who balled out and still left the arena feeling like she let something slip.

 

“I know it’s a milestone,” she said, “it just doesn’t feel great tonight.”

She looked like a future franchise cornerstone. But it felt like failure. Because while she was carrying the offense, the rest of the team couldn’t buy a bucket from deep.

The Mystics hit one three-pointer. One. On ten attempts. Not a typo.

 

“If you look at the game… the difference is three-point shooting,” said Mystics coach Sydney Johnson.

That’s it. That’s the whole tweet. Somebody get that stat its own jersey.

 

“They were doing some good stuff to exploit how we defend,” Johnson added. “So we had to make some tweaks.”

Cool. But those tweaks? They didn’t stop the avalanche. They just changed the color of the snow.

You can’t win a modern WNBA game going 1-of-10 from deep. This was a shooting performance so bad it could’ve been featured in a “don’t do this” instructional video. This was the brick house that ego built.

And sure, there are still signs of fight.

Kiki Iriafen is leveling up before our eyes. Brittney Sykes is trying to find the balance between controlled aggression and just chaos. Stef Dolson is holding the line in the paint like she’s on loan from a hockey team.

 

“She might be our best post defender… she absolutely battles… she’s really smart,” Johnson said.

“She’s a talker (defensively)… that impacts winning.”

All true. But right now? It’s still just talk.

The Mystics clawed back with a 12–0 run in the fourth. They scratched. They bit. They looked like they might pull something wild out of their hat.

Then they folded like a beach chair.

You don’t build culture on moral victories. You build it on wins. And right now, D.C. is starving.

Right now, D.C. ain’t building. D.C. is starving.

And unless this offense finds some rhythm — or at least a working jump shot — they’re gonna stay stuck in the buffet line with empty plates.

A Team Without Caitlin… But Not Without Answers

Let’s not get it twisted: Caitlin Clark is the engine of this franchise.

But this version of the Fever? They cut more. Moved freer. Played like a team, not a two-hour hype reel.

 

“Feel really good about the way we did it,” said White. “We had to dig in and come together. I’m proud of this group.”

And if you were watching, one question probably hit you like a pull-up jumper from the parking lot:

What if this is who the Fever are supposed to be?